2022 elections. The steady march for sanity continues.
- Thread starter hanimmal
- Start date
Roger A. Shrubber
Well-Known Member
and why has nothing been done? republikkkan obstruction...i see it, and so do a lot of other people...so i think you're wrongTo be fair, the same exact thing is happening to the democrats. You have the so-called "progressives" going so far to the left it's laughable while at the same time the so-called "centralist" democrats have essentially joined the republican party.
What is going to happen though is that democrats are going to lose both houses this November. The reason is pretty simple: the instant they got elected, they completely trashed everything they ran on.
Here are the issues they talked about 24/7 during the election cycle and the result since getting elected:
The moment they got elected, it was all thrown in the garbage in favor of their own interests. Again.
- Medicare for All - Not a damn thing has been done.
- Student debt relief - Not a damn thing has been done.
- Police Reform - Not a damn thing has been done.
- Expanded Medicare - Not a damn thing has been done.
- Lower prescription medication prices - Not a damn thing has been done.
- Rich pay their fair share of taxes - Not a damn thing has been done.
- Economy for all - Not a damn thing has been done.
- $15.00 minimum wage - allowed to be shot down by the parliamentarian.
Joe Biden has done essentially fuck-all. He's so busy trying to be remembered as the second coming of FDR that he's pretty much trashed any chance he had of getting re-elected, provided his health holds out and he lives that long that is. His approval rating right now is right about where Trump's was - in the mid 40's and stuck there.
Dems are going to tote an ass whipping this election cycle.
They completely deserve it.
republicunts are getting called out on their outrageous gerrymandering, they're embroiled in an insurrection scandal, trump continues to wage a war of attrition on his own party....they're fracturing from the inside, and it's just going to get worse when the indictments start to go out.
don't just assume ANYTHING...and they don't deserve one tenth the ass whuppin the republikkkan fascist have coming to them
hanimmal
Well-Known Member
Their own interests like the saving the economy that was left on fire by the Republican administration with the Covid relief package that covered several of those issues you pretend like didn't get addressed at all? Things like funding state and local government that kept police funded (that no Republican voted for), pausing all interest and payments on student loans for the year (that again no Republicans voted for), expanded subsidies for health care (that no Republicans voted to help Americans with), and Biden executive order raising the federal workers minimum wages to $15, which is what he was able to get done on his own, along with a bunch of other executive orders to help with some of the other things you listed.To be fair, the same exact thing is happening to the democrats. You have the so-called "progressives" going so far to the left it's laughable while at the same time the so-called "centralist" democrats have essentially joined the republican party.
What is going to happen though is that democrats are going to lose both houses this November. The reason is pretty simple: the instant they got elected, they completely trashed everything they ran on.
Here are the issues they talked about 24/7 during the election cycle and the result since getting elected:
The moment they got elected, it was all thrown in the garbage in favor of their own interests. Again.
- Medicare for All - Not a damn thing has been done.
- Student debt relief - Not a damn thing has been done.
- Police Reform - Not a damn thing has been done.
- Expanded Medicare - Not a damn thing has been done.
- Lower prescription medication prices - Not a damn thing has been done.
- Rich pay their fair share of taxes - Not a damn thing has been done.
- Economy for all - Not a damn thing has been done.
- $15.00 minimum wage - allowed to be shot down by the parliamentarian.
Joe Biden has done essentially fuck-all. He's so busy trying to be remembered as the second coming of FDR that he's pretty much trashed any chance he had of getting re-elected, provided his health holds out and he lives that long that is. His approval rating right now is right about where Trump's was - in the mid 40's and stuck there.
Dems are going to tote an ass whipping this election cycle.
They completely deserve it.
And just because others on what you said is what the Democrats were saying they supported (not all of which was stuff Biden said he would, and indeed some of the items were clearly told that he didn't support, but you knew that right?) are in different bills that haven't passed yet (again become zero Republicans are willing to step up and help the Democrats once again clean up the recession they oversaw when they were in power), doesn't mean they done 'essentially fuck-all'.
Hilarious trolling, and welcome back. Even if it is just more of that Dixiecrat bullshit you pushed last time.
TacoMac
Well-Known Member
Because they never wanted to do any of it anyway. It was all lip service.
The $15.00 minimum wage was intentionally put on the covid relief plan so that the parliamentarian could get rid of it and they would have an excuse. You know what Mitch McConnell did when the parliamentarian tried to strike something from a bill of his? He FIRED the parliamentarian. Their job is to make suggestions. They have no power at all.
But it was perfectly OK for old Chuck to throw up his hands and say, "Sorry folks! We tried!"
Police reform? They never even wrote any legislation at all. It was completely abandoned.
Student debt relief? Same thing. They did start a Twitter campaign where they all tweeted, "Today would be a good day for President Biden to forgive student debt" about every 5 weeks. That's all that's been done about it.
The rest of them are all the same. The only thing they were promising that they actually tried to do anything about was voter legislation. At least that one they can honestly say they tried, which is why I didn't mention it.
The rest of them that I mentioned they didn't even bother writing anything up at all, let alone putting it forward for a vote. It was literally forgotten about entirely.
LOL! Another false flag from democrats. They do the same exact thing. In fact, the most gerrymandered district in the United States is the democratic drawn and run 3rd district of Maryland. Here you go:
Which Joe Biden's attorney general has done absolutely NOTHING about. He's not only let Trump off the hook completely, he's actively defending him in court from lawsuits.
Justice Department Argues in Court It Should Defend Trump in Defamation Suit
In the 2019 lawsuit, E. Jean Carroll alleged former President Donald Trump lied earlier that year when he denied raping her in the 1990s. A DOJ lawyer said the law protects a president from being sued in such a case.
www.wsj.com
People have said that since Mueller. Guess what?
It is never going to happen.
Roger A. Shrubber
Well-Known Member
keep telling yourself that, you're going to be very unpleasantly surprisedBecause they never wanted to do any of it anyway. It was all lip service.
The $15.00 minimum wage was intentionally put on the covid relief plan so that the parliamentarian could get rid of it and they would have an excuse. You know what Mitch McConnell did when the parliamentarian tried to strike something from a bill of his? He FIRED the parliamentarian. Their job is to make suggestions. They have no power at all.
But it was perfectly OK for old Chuck to throw up his hands and say, "Sorry folks! We tried!"
Police reform? They never even wrote any legislation at all. It was completely abandoned.
Student debt relief? Same thing. They did start a Twitter campaign where they all tweeted, "Today would be a good day for President Biden to forgive student debt" about every 5 weeks. That's all that's been done about it.
The rest of them are all the same. The only thing they were promising that they actually tried to do anything about was voter legislation. At least that one they can honestly say they tried.
The rest, they didn't even bother writing anything up at all, let alone putting it forward for a vote.
LOL! Another false flag from democrats. They do the same exact thing. In fact, the most gerrymandered district in the United States is the democratic drawn and run 3rd district of Maryland. Here you go:
View attachment 5081000
Which Joe Biden's attorney general has done absolutely NOTHING about. He's not only let Trump off the hook completely, he's actively defending him in court from lawsuits.
Justice Department Argues in Court It Should Defend Trump in Defamation Suit
In the 2019 lawsuit, E. Jean Carroll alleged former President Donald Trump lied earlier that year when he denied raping her in the 1990s. A DOJ lawyer said the law protects a president from being sued in such a case.
People have said that since Mueller. Guess what?
It is never going to happen.
TacoMac
Well-Known Member
Mueller handed over several "ready to go" indictments of Trump. No further investigation needed. They were literally signed, sealed and delivered.
Garland sent them to the archives, where they will stay for eternity.
hanimmal
Well-Known Member
lol OMG!! have a example or two of Democrats gerrymandering (because if they didn't they would have no chance at winning the house due to the Repubclians outright theft of state level districting)! Nice whataboutism that is completely devoid of any actual context of the last 20 years of Republican fuckery in the states. Also if it was that bad, the courts could just say it is illegal like they are the racist ones that the Republicans keep pumping out to suppress minority voters voices.Because they never wanted to do any of it anyway. It was all lip service.
The $15.00 minimum wage was intentionally put on the covid relief plan so that the parliamentarian could get rid of it and they would have an excuse. You know what Mitch McConnell did when the parliamentarian tried to strike something from a bill of his? He FIRED the parliamentarian. Their job is to make suggestions. They have no power at all.
But it was perfectly OK for old Chuck to throw up his hands and say, "Sorry folks! We tried!"
Police reform? They never even wrote any legislation at all. It was completely abandoned.
Student debt relief? Same thing. They did start a Twitter campaign where they all tweeted, "Today would be a good day for President Biden to forgive student debt" about every 5 weeks. That's all that's been done about it.
The rest of them are all the same. The only thing they were promising that they actually tried to do anything about was voter legislation. At least that one they can honestly say they tried, which is why I didn't mention it.
The rest of them that I mentioned they didn't even bother writing anything up at all, let alone putting it forward for a vote. It was literally forgotten about entirely.
LOL! Another false flag from democrats. They do the same exact thing. In fact, the most gerrymandered district in the United States is the democratic drawn and run 3rd district of Maryland. Here you go:
View attachment 5081000
Which Joe Biden's attorney general has done absolutely NOTHING about. He's not only let Trump off the hook completely, he's actively defending him in court from lawsuits.
Justice Department Argues in Court It Should Defend Trump in Defamation Suit
In the 2019 lawsuit, E. Jean Carroll alleged former President Donald Trump lied earlier that year when he denied raping her in the 1990s. A DOJ lawyer said the law protects a president from being sued in such a case.
People have said that since Mueller. Guess what?
It is never going to happen.
The McConnell would have fired the parlimentarian is a nice touch, luckily Democrats are not the Republicans and willing to burn down our democracy to keep power. Also you are still ignoring Biden's executive action that did raise the minimum wage for federal employees (which again is not 'fuck-all' as you lied about).
Police reform conviently ignores Tim Scott (Republican) walking away after dragging it along as long as possible and them doing the right wing troll and lying with the propaganda talking points of 'Defund the Police'.
You once again ignore the actual bill that saved the economy and put us into a position to have over 5% GDP, more jobs gained than the last 3 Republican presidential terms combined (it might actually be 4 (or what 30 years or Republican job growth topped in Biden's first year), but I haven't done the math on that yet), largest infrastructure bill signed into law in American history to undo the decades of underfunding that the Republicans saw to, etc.
As for the DoJ doing nothing about Trump, that is something that you don't actually know because unlike the trolls Trump appointed, they don't actually announce investigations, so that is a easy bullshit troll to pretend like nothing is happening that is actually not something you can actually know, but can troll about, which I guess is good enough for someone who acted like Stacey Abrams paying for her sick parents healthcare and taking on debt to do it was a bad thing.
Is this some special knowledge that you have? Because I can't find shit about this.
Or are we supposed to just take your word for it?
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Roger A. Shrubber
Well-Known Member
i'm not sure if trump will ever go to jail or not, but a shit load of his republicunt lackeys are fucked, enough to do serious damage to the party, maybe fatal damage...and trump himself is basically fucked after this, Deutschebank refuses to do business with him any more, so no more loans for donny, New York is dismantling his money laundering "charities" there, so no more money for donny...he has to keep the political shit going, it's his sole source of income now. wonder how long it'll take the gop to cut him off?
Roger A. Shrubber
Well-Known Member
Maryland's supreme court has never seen a cause to re-edit that map...the supreme court of North Carolina, a state with a very high republican population, did see a reason to take objection with the republican's map...same thing in Ohio and Michigan...supreme courts in republican states, with predictably republican justices, had to tell the republicans they were being blatantly, stupidly obvious, and stepped in to fix it...
of course, it's becoming a thing for people to have to step in and fix republican fuck ups...but it's usually not other republicans
HGCC
Well-Known Member
I think we need 4 parties at least. The Democrats have become more conservative as they pick up former Republicans. I would like something viable that is further to the left.
Roger A. Shrubber
Well-Known Member
given the attitude of most of the country, i think you may have trouble getting that...at least half of the country has been conditioned to hear "left" "liberal", and "progressive" as Socialist...and to consider Socialist the same as Communist...doesn't matter that hardly a one of them knows what each of those words means, and couldn't point to the definitions of each if the word at the beginning was covered.
DIY-HP-LED
Well-Known Member
The republicans have real issues dividing them, but it's mostly Trump and they have the racist extremists, lunatics and antivaxxers among them. The republicans contain the most antisocial elements in America now and are more like a coalition of lunatics and losers, united into a tribe by fear and hate.
A new conservative party would be started by former republicans and one of it's purposes would be to keep the lunatics out of power, they are not conservatives, quite the opposite. They would have the money and legal power to do it too, they can break the duopoly and the state laws that support it. In Canada the right wing party shattered and was divided for a decade into two parties, their vote was divided and they were out of power.
A new conservative party would be started by former republicans and one of it's purposes would be to keep the lunatics out of power, they are not conservatives, quite the opposite. They would have the money and legal power to do it too, they can break the duopoly and the state laws that support it. In Canada the right wing party shattered and was divided for a decade into two parties, their vote was divided and they were out of power.
HGCC
Well-Known Member
I'm alright with that. My idea is sort of built on having various independent groups that really care about one thing or another, to effectively govern someone would need to build a coalition. Ideally it would be way more than 4 parties, but I think you need at least 4 to prevent any weird extremists from getting a 60/40 split and then pulling the moderates to extremes. Currently a small percentage of crazies can influence a primary in gerrymandered districts to pull an entire party their way.
Roger A. Shrubber
Well-Known Member
i see lawsuits coming by the end of tomorrow....
https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/nashville/gov-lee-signs-map-splitting-nashville/
bill lee is a piece of shit magat,
In July 2019, Lee signed an order proclaiming Nathan Bedford Forrest Day, as required by Tennessee law, celebrating Forrest, a famous confederate general and the first Grand Wizard of the white supremacist group the Ku Klux Klan.[37] The legislature repealed this requirement in June 2020.
it was repealed...but it got signed first...
his family is rich, he's just another old school white establishment player, making sure the status quo stays in place so his family can keep on making that money...and now he's doing what he was told to do...sell America's soul one district at a time
https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/nashville/gov-lee-signs-map-splitting-nashville/
bill lee is a piece of shit magat,
In July 2019, Lee signed an order proclaiming Nathan Bedford Forrest Day, as required by Tennessee law, celebrating Forrest, a famous confederate general and the first Grand Wizard of the white supremacist group the Ku Klux Klan.[37] The legislature repealed this requirement in June 2020.
it was repealed...but it got signed first...
his family is rich, he's just another old school white establishment player, making sure the status quo stays in place so his family can keep on making that money...and now he's doing what he was told to do...sell America's soul one district at a time
printer
Well-Known Member
Supreme Court halts order requiring Alabama to redraw congressional map
The Supreme Court on Monday ruled Alabama's controversial new congressional maps could stay in place while it reviews a legal challenge, overruling a lower court that had ordered the state to redraw its districts in order to give Black voters better representation.
A 5-4 majority granted a stay of a lower court's order that found the gerrymandered districts likely violated the Voting Rights Act, with Chief Justice John Roberts joining the three liberal justices in dissent.
In a concurring opinion, Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote that the court's stay will allow the justices to fully hear the case, pushing back the dissenters' criticism that the majority was making a sweeping ruling to gut voting rights without a full briefing from the parties.
"The stay will allow this Court to decide the merits in an orderly fashion—after full briefing, oral argument, and our usual extensive internal deliberations—and ensure that we do not have to decide the merits on the emergency docket," Kavanaugh wrote in the opinion, which was joined by Justice Samuel Alito.
Justice Elena Kagan wrote in a dissenting opinion that the majority's ruling undermines careful consideration applied by the judges below.
"It does a disservice to the District Court, which meticulously applied this Court’s longstanding voting-rights precedent. And most of all, it does a disservice to Black Alabamians who under that precedent have had their electoral power diminished—in violation of a law this Court once knew to buttress all of American democracy," Kagan wrote in the opinion, which was joined by the other two liberal justices.
Alabama's newly drawn map includes just one district in which Black voters constitute a majority out of seven total districts, despite accounting for about 27 percent of the state's population.
Plaintiffs who challenged the redistricting in court argued that the new map is part of Alabama's long history of flouting the Constitution and federal law in order to "discriminate against Black voters to maintain power."
Last month, a three-judge panel ordered state officials to redraw its districts, setting Monday as a deadline.
The Supreme Court's order halts that ruling until the justices can hear the case. It did not indicate a timeline along which the case would move forward, but it appears that the upcoming election cycle will operate under the controversial map.
In his opinion, Kavanaugh wrote that with the state's primary voting to begin at the end of next month, the majority is disinclined to throw the entire election cycle into "chaos and confusion" by forcing Alabama to come up with an entirely new map in just a few weeks.
"When an election is close at hand, the rules of the road must be clear and settled. Late judicial tinkering with election laws can lead to disruption and to unanticipated and unfair consequences for candidates, political parties, and voters, among others," Kavanaugh wrote. "It is one thing for a State on its own to toy with its election laws close to a State’s elections. But it is quite another thing for a federal court to swoop in and re-do a State’s election laws in the period close to an election."
But Kagan argued that the court was again rolling back voting protections in a rushed, emergency order, following a series of "shadow docket" rulings during the 2020 election cycle that allowed GOP-controlled states to implement voting restrictions.
"The District Court here did everything right under the law existing today," she wrote. "Staying its decision forces Black Alabamians to suffer what under that law is clear vote dilution."
thehill.com
The Supreme Court on Monday ruled Alabama's controversial new congressional maps could stay in place while it reviews a legal challenge, overruling a lower court that had ordered the state to redraw its districts in order to give Black voters better representation.
A 5-4 majority granted a stay of a lower court's order that found the gerrymandered districts likely violated the Voting Rights Act, with Chief Justice John Roberts joining the three liberal justices in dissent.
In a concurring opinion, Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote that the court's stay will allow the justices to fully hear the case, pushing back the dissenters' criticism that the majority was making a sweeping ruling to gut voting rights without a full briefing from the parties.
"The stay will allow this Court to decide the merits in an orderly fashion—after full briefing, oral argument, and our usual extensive internal deliberations—and ensure that we do not have to decide the merits on the emergency docket," Kavanaugh wrote in the opinion, which was joined by Justice Samuel Alito.
Justice Elena Kagan wrote in a dissenting opinion that the majority's ruling undermines careful consideration applied by the judges below.
"It does a disservice to the District Court, which meticulously applied this Court’s longstanding voting-rights precedent. And most of all, it does a disservice to Black Alabamians who under that precedent have had their electoral power diminished—in violation of a law this Court once knew to buttress all of American democracy," Kagan wrote in the opinion, which was joined by the other two liberal justices.
Alabama's newly drawn map includes just one district in which Black voters constitute a majority out of seven total districts, despite accounting for about 27 percent of the state's population.
Plaintiffs who challenged the redistricting in court argued that the new map is part of Alabama's long history of flouting the Constitution and federal law in order to "discriminate against Black voters to maintain power."
Last month, a three-judge panel ordered state officials to redraw its districts, setting Monday as a deadline.
The Supreme Court's order halts that ruling until the justices can hear the case. It did not indicate a timeline along which the case would move forward, but it appears that the upcoming election cycle will operate under the controversial map.
In his opinion, Kavanaugh wrote that with the state's primary voting to begin at the end of next month, the majority is disinclined to throw the entire election cycle into "chaos and confusion" by forcing Alabama to come up with an entirely new map in just a few weeks.
"When an election is close at hand, the rules of the road must be clear and settled. Late judicial tinkering with election laws can lead to disruption and to unanticipated and unfair consequences for candidates, political parties, and voters, among others," Kavanaugh wrote. "It is one thing for a State on its own to toy with its election laws close to a State’s elections. But it is quite another thing for a federal court to swoop in and re-do a State’s election laws in the period close to an election."
But Kagan argued that the court was again rolling back voting protections in a rushed, emergency order, following a series of "shadow docket" rulings during the 2020 election cycle that allowed GOP-controlled states to implement voting restrictions.
"The District Court here did everything right under the law existing today," she wrote. "Staying its decision forces Black Alabamians to suffer what under that law is clear vote dilution."
Supreme Court halts order requiring Alabama to redraw congressional map
The Supreme Court on Monday ruled that Alabama could move forward with its redistricting maps, overruling a lower court that had ordered the state to redraw its districts in order to give Black vot…
thehill.com
Roger A. Shrubber
Well-Known Member
great, here comes the fucking freely flowing bullshit from trump's fucking racist, misogynist, motherfucking magat injustices...Supreme Court halts order requiring Alabama to redraw congressional map
The Supreme Court on Monday ruled Alabama's controversial new congressional maps could stay in place while it reviews a legal challenge, overruling a lower court that had ordered the state to redraw its districts in order to give Black voters better representation.
A 5-4 majority granted a stay of a lower court's order that found the gerrymandered districts likely violated the Voting Rights Act, with Chief Justice John Roberts joining the three liberal justices in dissent.
In a concurring opinion, Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote that the court's stay will allow the justices to fully hear the case, pushing back the dissenters' criticism that the majority was making a sweeping ruling to gut voting rights without a full briefing from the parties.
"The stay will allow this Court to decide the merits in an orderly fashion—after full briefing, oral argument, and our usual extensive internal deliberations—and ensure that we do not have to decide the merits on the emergency docket," Kavanaugh wrote in the opinion, which was joined by Justice Samuel Alito.
Justice Elena Kagan wrote in a dissenting opinion that the majority's ruling undermines careful consideration applied by the judges below.
"It does a disservice to the District Court, which meticulously applied this Court’s longstanding voting-rights precedent. And most of all, it does a disservice to Black Alabamians who under that precedent have had their electoral power diminished—in violation of a law this Court once knew to buttress all of American democracy," Kagan wrote in the opinion, which was joined by the other two liberal justices.
Alabama's newly drawn map includes just one district in which Black voters constitute a majority out of seven total districts, despite accounting for about 27 percent of the state's population.
Plaintiffs who challenged the redistricting in court argued that the new map is part of Alabama's long history of flouting the Constitution and federal law in order to "discriminate against Black voters to maintain power."
Last month, a three-judge panel ordered state officials to redraw its districts, setting Monday as a deadline.
The Supreme Court's order halts that ruling until the justices can hear the case. It did not indicate a timeline along which the case would move forward, but it appears that the upcoming election cycle will operate under the controversial map.
In his opinion, Kavanaugh wrote that with the state's primary voting to begin at the end of next month, the majority is disinclined to throw the entire election cycle into "chaos and confusion" by forcing Alabama to come up with an entirely new map in just a few weeks.
"When an election is close at hand, the rules of the road must be clear and settled. Late judicial tinkering with election laws can lead to disruption and to unanticipated and unfair consequences for candidates, political parties, and voters, among others," Kavanaugh wrote. "It is one thing for a State on its own to toy with its election laws close to a State’s elections. But it is quite another thing for a federal court to swoop in and re-do a State’s election laws in the period close to an election."
But Kagan argued that the court was again rolling back voting protections in a rushed, emergency order, following a series of "shadow docket" rulings during the 2020 election cycle that allowed GOP-controlled states to implement voting restrictions.
"The District Court here did everything right under the law existing today," she wrote. "Staying its decision forces Black Alabamians to suffer what under that law is clear vote dilution."
Supreme Court halts order requiring Alabama to redraw congressional map
The Supreme Court on Monday ruled that Alabama could move forward with its redistricting maps, overruling a lower court that had ordered the state to redraw its districts in order to give Black vot…
watch, they'll end up doing more damage than trump himself did...
CunningCanuk
Well-Known Member
The Republicans are right, there were examples of fraud in the last election.
They conveniently leave out the fact, however, the Republicans were the ones committing the fraud.
hanimmal
Well-Known Member
They are very very good at trolling. But really all it takes is to be completely shameless when it comes to lying through projection. And they have had decades of experience with practicing that.
CunningCanuk
Well-Known Member
The Supreme Court may completely hollow out the Voting Rights Act by 2024Supreme Court could act soon on Alabama racial gerrymandering dispute
Pending before the justices is an emergency request by Alabama Republicans to block a lower court ruling which ordered the state’s voting districts to be redrawn after the court found Alabama’s plan likely runs afoul of the Voting Rights Act.
The case tees up a high-profile test for a Supreme Court that over the last decade has steadily narrowed the sweep of federal voting protections and now comprises a conservative supermajority that includes three justices nominated by former President Trump.
The central question is whether the mismatch between Alabama’s Black population and its disproportionately low representation in the U.S. House violates the law. Despite Black Alabamians accounting for around 27 percent of the state’s population, the voting map drawn by the GOP-held legislature following the 2020 census gives Black voters control of only 14 percent of the state’s congressional delegation, or one in seven Alabama seats in the U.S House.
Challengers to the new map brought suits in federal court alleging that the new voting districts reflected “a decades long pattern of the white-controlled Alabama Legislature” drawing maps that “discriminate against Black voters to maintain power” in violation of federal law and constitutional protections.
Groups contesting the redistricting plan allege that Republican state lawmakers engaged in map-drawing techniques known as “cracking” and “packing,” hallmark features of gerrymandering, the practice of designing voting districts for partisan advantage.
Cracking breaks up a geographic cluster of an opposing party’s likely voters and distributes them among several districts where their votes are unlikely to sway the outcome of a race.
Alternatively, packing those voters into a small number of districts virtually ensures the opposing party will be uncompetitive in most districts.
Under Section 2 of the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection, mapmakers are generally prohibited from using these techniques to dilute the vote of racial minorities.
Challengers to Alabama’s redistricting plan argued in court papers that a fair map which accurately reflected the state’s demographics would give Black voters more say over two of the state’s seven House seats, instead of just one.
Last month, a three-judge panel that included two Trump nominees ruled in favor of the challengers and blocked the current congressional districts from being used in upcoming elections. The panel ordered Alabama to reconstruct their map to give Black voters greater power in two districts, setting a deadline of Feb. 7.
The ruling prompted Alabama’s Sec. of State John Merrill (R) and top GOP lawmakers to file an emergency request to the Supreme Court, which has received both parties’ briefings and could soon rule in the case.
Over the last decade, the court has issued several contentious decisions that have reduced the reach of the Voting Rights Act and barred federal courts from hearing disputes over partisan (as opposed to racial) gerrymandering claims.
Supreme Court could act soon on Alabama racial gerrymandering dispute
The Supreme Court could soon act on a dispute over whether Alabama’s new voting map infringes on the rights of Black voters in the first major redistricting case to reach the 6-3 conservative major…
The Supreme Court may completely hollow out the Voting Rights Act by 2024 | CNN Politics
The Supreme Court's action late Monday in an Alabama redistricting case foreshadows a new threat to the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and electoral opportunities for Blacks and other racial minorities nationwide.